November 27,  2009  

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Schools brace for pending subsidy losses
 by Edward French

 

Schools in Union 104 could lose nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from reductions in state subsidies over the next three years, according to projections by the Maine Department of Education. On November 20, Governor John Baldacci ordered, as part of a $63.1 million curtailment in state spending, a reduction of $38 million in state school subsidies, and another $36 million cut in school funding is anticipated for the next fiscal year.

According to a memo to Washington County superintendents from David Beal, superintendent of SAD 37 in Harrington, subsidy curtailments in fiscal year 2011 are expected to be four times as much as the cut that was made last year but was returned to the schools, and then six times as great in fiscal year 2012.

"It's as bleak a picture as one could predict," said Union 104 Superintendent Terry Lux at the November 17 Eastport School Committee meeting. "I don't know how we'll ever do business. We operate on bare bones as it is." The loss for the Eastport school system during the three-year period beginning this coming January is estimated at just over $300,000. "These big figures translate into salaries and benefits," she stated.

Lux said she planned to place a freeze on spending soon. She noted that state revenues are down significantly, and since education is "the largest chunk of the state pie," most of the cuts are made in state education aid.

Under the November 20 curtailment, towns in Union 104 will lose the following amounts: Eastport, $37,360; Pembroke, $24,160; Perry, $24,400; Charlotte, $7,392; Dennysville, $5,040. For other schools in Washington County the curtailment also will result in some significant losses. The reductions in state funding include: Baileyville, $84,656; Calais, $50,464; SAD 19, Lubec, $50,864; Machias, $39,008; Machiasport, $31,072; Cutler, $23,504; Whiting, $19,312; Robbinston, $13,424.

In issuing the curtailment order, Baldacci noted that early estimates suggest state revenues for fiscal years 2010-2011 could be under budget by $400 million or more. His supplemental budget for fiscal years 2010-11, which will be presented to the legislature in December, will contain many of the cuts implemented in the curtailment along with further reductions in state spending.

Regionalization law changes proposed

At the November 17 meeting in Eastport, Lux reported that the four superintendents of districts that were to form the regional school unit (RSU) for 22 towns in eastern and northern Washington County will be meeting on November 30 in Calais with representatives from the Department of Education on how they should proceed. The RSU proposal had been turned down by the towns, so another plan has to be put forward.

With the effort to repeal the school consolidation law having failed in the November 3 statewide referendum, the Maine Coalition to Save Schools, headed by Skip Greenlaw of Stonington, is recommending to the legislature seven changes in the consolidation law to assist school districts in rural areas. Those changes include: eliminate the restriction on the number of students that must be in an RSU; allow collaboratives as alternative organizational structures; remove the penalties if an RSU isn't formed by the deadline; provide options to withdraw from an RSU or an alternative organizational structure (AOS) to pursue more productive arrangements; provide separate state subsidy figures for the member districts in an RSU; allow districts a local option to eliminate the budget validation referenda; allow for alternatives to having one collective bargaining unit. Lux noted that if all 22 towns in the proposed RSU for this area had to match the teacher salaries of Baileyville, "it would blow us right out of the water and off the map."

Other action

Lux reported that Union 104 has received 300 doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine, which would be administered on November 19 and 20. A second shipment has been ordered.

The board decided to consider at its December meeting a request to have a K4 student promoted to the K5 class.

The board approved revisions to the Shead crisis management plan and the athletic handbook. The athletic handbook now states that grades will be checked on a weekly basis to determine academic eligibility to participate on athletic teams, and any student caught with drugs or alcohol will be not allowed to participate on athletic teams for 60 days.

The board reelected Shannon Emery as chair and Will Bradbury as vice chair.

Principals' reports

Eastport Elementary School Principal Lovina Wormell reported about the No Child Left Behind report card for the school. All of the school's teachers are highly qualified under the federal guidelines, and students in grades 3B8 have made adequate yearly progress standards in math and reading. Students exceeded the state averages in reading in three out of five grades; in math students exceeded the state in four out of five grades. Grades 6B8 are making a compost pile as a gardening project, in conjunction with Shead and local master gardeners. Grades 4B6 were traveling to Portland on November 24 for a program called "Lobster: Untold Tales" at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Six students participated in an ATV course, which allows them to be on the property of other landowners, if written permission is given. Early release days so that teachers can work on various topics will be on December 14, January 12 and 27, February 4 and 25, March 12, April 7, May 10 and 27.

Shead Principal Paul Theriault reported that Shead alumni Thomas Moore made a donation of books in memory of longtime Shead science teacher Lucy Kilby and the Class of 1959. The Maine Community Foundation told the principal that an individual would like to invest in the school so that the Jobs for Maine's Graduates program can be brought back. The individual also is interested in making a donation for scholarships.

 

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